Product Description

Horrific monsters and spectral presences lurk in manors, crypts, schools, monasteries, and derelict buildings near Arkham, Massachusetts. Some spin dark conspiracies while others wait for hapless victims to devour or drive insane. It’s up to a handful of brave investigators to explore these cursed places and uncover the truth about the living nightmares within.

Designed by Corey Konieczka, Mansions of Madness is a macabre game of horror, insanity, and mystery for two to five players. Each game takes place within a pre-designed story that provides players with a unique map and several combinations of plot threads. These threads affect the monsters that investigators may encounter, the clues they need to find, and which climactic story ending they will ultimately experience. One player takes on the role of the keeper, controlling the monsters and other malicious powers within the story. The other players take on the role of investigators, searching for answers while struggling to survive with their minds intact.

Product Reviews

If you like thematic, story-driven horror this is your game. This is the best haunted
mansion game out there right now. It's a step up in complexity and depth when
compared to Betrayal At House On The Hill. It's based on Cthulu which may or may not
appeal to some people. Basically, one person plays the part of GM and the other
players play investigators. The GM tries to stop the investigators from discovering
the plot and winning conditions. Investigators follow clues in order to discover the
plot and their winning conditions. One neat thing about this game is its use of
puzzles to solve some of the roadblocks the investigators will face, which is a
little video-gamey so it may or may not appeal to some people. Strategy isn't all
that high. It's more about the theme and story and it does this very well. I was
disappointed that the game only comes with 5 stories. These aren't completely linear
though, the GM gets to make a few of the decisions before the game starts. Setup
takes a long time so it may be wise to let the GM set the story up before players
start. This a great game!

I bought this game a while back expecting a lot but it just didnt deliver in my
opinion. It is a game about a haunted mansion where you try to solve the mystery of
the mansion before it destroys you. Sound good, doesn't it? Unfortunately there
are issues in the game that I just didn't like. First issue: replayability. If im
not mistaken it has terrible replayability because there are only five scenarios and
three objectives for each scenario for a total of 15 (count-em!) games that you can
actually play with the base set. For the price tag of this game 15 doesn't sound
nearly enough. 2nd issue: set-up. The set-up is too ardous and time-consuming for
what the game actually is which is just going through a couple of rooms killing a
couple of monsters. Third and final issue: those pesky puzzles!. In the game you
have to stop in mid-stream sometimes to solve a puzzle in order to get into certain
rooms. A major annoying issue of the game! In the end the game is more trouble
than its worth with lots of fiddly rules to remember as well. If you are interested
in a thematic experience that takes you through a mansion that is visually appealing
maybe you will like this game but the three issues I outlined kept me from keeping
this game which I plan to sell my copy at a convention.

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